Science news

• How ravens caused a LIGO data glitch

  18-04-2018 21:00
  
  Ravens pecking at frosty pipes caused a glitch in gravitational wave data.
  
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• Meteorite diamonds tell of a lost planet

  18-04-2018 20:48
  Scientists have examined a slice from a meteorite that contains large diamonds formed at high pressure. The study shows that the parent body from which the meteorite came was a planetary embryo of a size between Mercury to Mars.
  
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• We can recognize speakers only from how faces move when talking

  18-04-2018 20:47
  Results of a new study by psychologists and speech scientists should help to settle a long-standing disagreement among cognitive psychologists about the information we use to recognize people speaking to us. The study shows that listeners can use visual dynamic features to learn to recognize who is talking.
  
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• New ancestor of modern sea turtles found in Alabama

  18-04-2018 20:47
  A sea turtle discovered in Alabama is a new species from the Late Cretaceous epoch, according to a new study.
  
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• NASA's exoplanet-hunting spacecraft to make 2nd launch attempt

  18-04-2018 20:47 via cbc.ca
  After a delay on Monday, NASA's TESS spacecraft is scheduled for a second launch attempt Wednesday evening atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
  
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• NASA's exoplanet-hunting spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral

  18-04-2018 20:47 via cbc.ca
  NASA's TESS spacecraft has been launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to begin a two-year mission to find, and then study, faraway planets and about half a million stars.
  
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• Leptin's neural circuit identified

  18-04-2018 20:47
  Scientists have identified a neural circuit in the hypothalamus as the primary mechanism mediating the hormone leptin's anti-obesity and anti-diabetes effects and found two mechanisms underlying leptin's inhibition of appetite. The work in mice advances efforts to treat human obesity and diabetes.
  
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• Brain processes sight and sound in same manner

  18-04-2018 20:47
  Neuroscientists have found that the human brain learns to make sense of auditory and visual stimuli in the same two-step process.
  
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• Better species mapping can improve conservation efforts

  18-04-2018 20:47
  The scientific models that ecologists and conservation biologists rely on to determine which species and habitats to protect lack critical information to help them make effective decisions, according to a new study.
  
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• Battery's hidden layer revealed

  18-04-2018 20:47
  An international team makes breakthrough in understanding the chemistry of the microscopically thin layer that forms between the liquid electrolyte and solid electrode in lithium-ion batteries. The results are being used in improving the layer and better predicting battery lifetime.
  
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• This meteorite’s diamonds hint that it was born in a lost planet

  18-04-2018 20:30
  
  Bits of metal nestled inside diamonds suggest the space rock could have formed in a Mars-sized protoplanet in the early solar system.
  
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• Study reveals new Antarctic process contributing to sea level rise and climate change

  18-04-2018 20:15
  A new study has revealed a previously undocumented process where melting glacial ice sheets change the ocean in a way that further accelerates the rate of ice melt and sea level rise. The research found that glacial meltwater makes the ocean's surface layer less salty and more buoyant, preventing deep mixing in winter and allowing warm water at depth to retain its heat and further melt glaciers from below.
  
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• Martian moons model indicates formation following large impact

  18-04-2018 20:15
  Scientists posit a violent birth of the tiny Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, but on a much smaller scale than the giant impact thought to have resulted in the Earth-moon system. Their work shows that an impact between proto-Mars and a dwarf-planet-sized object likely produced the two moons.
  
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• Global warming is transforming the Great Barrier Reef

  18-04-2018 20:15
  A new study shows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016.
  
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• Characterizing 'keyhole' is first step to fighting obesity at cellular level

  18-04-2018 20:15
  Scientists have characterized for the first time a complex, little-understood cellular receptor type that, when activated, shuts off hunger.
  
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• Why touch can be such a creepy sensation in VR

  18-04-2018 20:00
  
  Touch sensation in VR can go from immersive to unnerving as the feeling gets more realistic, if you can’t see the source.
  
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• IKEA-Building Robot Conquers Touchy-Feely Challenge

  18-04-2018 20:00 via rss.sciam.com
  The Swedish furniture has become something of a benchmark for robotics engineers-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Masses of shrimp and krill may play a huge role in mixing oceans

  18-04-2018 19:20
  
  Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale turbulence in the ocean, a new study suggests.
  
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• Heatwaves 'cook' Great Barrier Reef corals

  18-04-2018 19:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Recurring spells of ocean warming impact the diversity of coral reef communities.
  
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• Keeping livers 'alive' boosts transplant success, trial finds

  18-04-2018 18:59 via bbc.co.uk
  The alternative to ice involves pumping livers with blood, nutrients and medicines while in a machine.
  
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• Why is it harder for females to gain weight?

  18-04-2018 17:16
  Why is it harder for females to gain weight? A new study proposes that part of the answer may be in the brain.
  
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• Unique protein is a vulnerability in the malaria parasite

  18-04-2018 17:16
  The malaria parasite is highly dependent on a unique protein for infecting new mosquitoes. This protein could be a target for the development of new drugs.
  
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• T cell antigen receptors act alone: Longstanding immunological mystery solved

  18-04-2018 17:16
  With a standard electron microscope, only dead T cells can be studied. Therefore, it is very hard to figure out the inner workings of the cell. New microscopy techniques, making it possible to study living T cells, have now led to surprising results: while it has been generally believed that T cell receptors must interact with one another for effective immune-signaling, the new study shows: T cell receptors act alone.
  
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• Fatty fish and camelina oil are beneficial for your HDL and IDL cholesterol

  18-04-2018 17:16
  Eating fatty fish increases the size and lipid composition of HDL particles in people with impaired glucose metabolism, according to a new study. These changes in the size and lipid composition of HDL particles make them beneficial for cardiovascular health. The study also found that camelina sativa oil decreases the number of harmful IDL particles.
  
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• Deep learning predicts drug-drug and drug-food interactions

  18-04-2018 17:16
  Scientists have developed a computational framework, DeepDDI, that accurately predicts and generates 86 types of drug-drug and drug-food interactions as outputs of human-readable sentences, which allows in-depth understanding of the drug-drug and drug-food interactions.
  
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• Brain networks: Keeping the excitement under control

  18-04-2018 17:16
  Scientists are using advanced techniques to monitor the activity of networks of single sensory neurons in the brain. By listening in on hundreds of conversations, the scientists have discovered how a single signal from one cell manages to attract attention.
  
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• Designer baby decisions envisioned for parents of the future

  18-04-2018 17:02 via cbc.ca
  Biomedical ethics experts envision dozens of choices for which of your embryos should be placed in the womb to become your child in 20 to 40 years.
  
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• What happens to our muscles during spaceflight and when living on Mars?

  18-04-2018 16:05
  The inactivity of astronauts during spaceflights presents a significant risk to their muscles, says a new study. Scientists have simulated the impact of 21-day spaceflights on the body, and the impact of low gravity environments such as the moon or Mars.
  
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• New new genus and species of extinct baleen whale identified

  18-04-2018 16:05
  Paleontologists are rewriting the history of New Zealand's ancient whales by describing a previously unknown genus of baleen whale, alive more than 27.5 million years ago and found in the Hakataramea Valley, South Canterbury.
  
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• Coho salmon die, chum salmon survive in stormwater runoff research

  18-04-2018 16:05
  Scientists found that coho salmon became sick and nearly died, within just a few hours of exposure to polluted stormwater. But chum salmon showed no signs of ill-effects after prolonged exposure to the same water.
  
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• Chemical attack

  18-04-2018 15:22 via bbc.co.uk
  Experts describe the challenges facing those investigating an alleged chemical attack in Syria.
  
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• Why don't kids use their asthma medicines?

  18-04-2018 15:20
  In a new analysis of interviews conducted with children who have asthma, their caregivers and their clinicians, researchers found that there was significant lack of agreement about why the kids miss their needed daily anti-inflammatory medication.
  
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• Study shows men and women tear ACL the same way in non-contact injury

  18-04-2018 15:20
  While women are two to four times more likely than men to tear the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in their knee, the cause of this injury is no different between the sexes, according to new research.
  
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• Some kitchen cabinets can emit potentially harmful compounds

  18-04-2018 15:20
  Probably the last place anyone would want to find airborne polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) is in the kitchen, yet that's exactly where scientists detected their presence. They say that the PCBs, which are widely considered carcinogenic, are unwanted byproducts of sealant breakdown in modern kitchen cabinetry.
  
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• Root exudates affect soil stability, water repellency

  18-04-2018 15:20
  We might think of roots as necessary, but uninteresting, parts of the crop production process. New research, however, focuses on what's going on in the soil with the plant's roots and the chemicals they produce.
  
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• How to improve habitat conservation for migrating cranes

  18-04-2018 15:20
  Every year, endangered whooping cranes travel along a 4,000-kilometer corridor linking their Canadian nesting grounds and their winter home in Texas. Habitat in their path through the northern Great Plains is being lost at an alarming rate, but identifying key spots for protection is a challenge. Now, researchers behind a new study have created a model of whooping crane habitat use with the potential to greatly improve the targeting of conservation efforts during their migration.
  
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• Competition between males improves resilience against climate change

  18-04-2018 15:20
  Animal species with males who compete intensively for mates might be more resilient to the effects of climate change, according to new research.
  
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• Bugged out by climate change

  18-04-2018 15:20
  Warmer summer and fall seasons and fewer winter freeze-thaw events have led to changes in the relative numbers of different types of bugs in the Arctic. The study relies on the longest-standing, most comprehensive data set on arctic arthropods in the world today: a catalogue of almost 600,000 flies, wasps, spiders and other creepy-crawlies collected at the Zackenberg field station on the northeast coast of Greenland from 1996-2014.
  
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• 340,000 stars' DNA interrogated in search for sun's lost siblings

  18-04-2018 15:20
  Astronomers have revealed the 'DNA' of more than 340,000 stars in the Milky Way, which should help them find the siblings of the sun, now scattered across the sky. This is the first major announcement of an ambitious survey as part of a quest to uncover the formulation and evolution of galaxies -- after the Australian-led Galactic Archaeology survey, called GALAH, commenced three years ago.
  
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• Canada's Paris emission targets still dubious despite drop in 2016

  18-04-2018 15:07 via cbc.ca
  Canada's latest greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations shows emissions are starting to trend downward, but not nearly at the rate needed to meet the country's international commitments under the Paris climate change accord.
  
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• Meteorite diamonds 'came from lost planet'

  18-04-2018 14:34 via bbc.co.uk
  The space rock that exploded in 2008 seems to have come from the early Solar System.
  
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• Facebook adds privacy settings to comply with new European law

  18-04-2018 13:24 via cbc.ca
  Facebook is enhancing privacy safeguards for users around the world as it complies with new European rules designed to make it easier for consumers to give and withdraw consent for the use of their data.
  
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• Otter Poop Helps Scientists Track Pollution at a Superfund Site

  18-04-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  In a contaminated Seattle river, what the mammals leave behind may be a good gauge of cleanup efforts-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Costa Coffee vows 'cup recycling revolution'

  18-04-2018 10:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The UK's biggest coffee chain says it will recycle as many disposable cups as it sells by 2020.
  
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• Unravelling a scientific mystery: Could wildfire ash end up in our fish dinner?

  18-04-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Marine researchers in California think that what they're finding in U.S. waters could help Canada's coastal communities, writes Kim Brunhuber.
  
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• Yimei Zhu receives 2018 Microscopy Society of America Distinguished Scientist Award

  18-04-2018 06:00
  (DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory) How do complex atomic and electronic interactions impact material properties? Using electron microscopy instrumentation and methods he developed, Yimei Zhu has been investigating this question for the past 30 years. The Microscopy Society of America is now recognizing his contributions.
  
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• Writing and deleting magnets with lasers

  18-04-2018 06:00
  (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf) Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) together with colleagues from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA have found a way to write and delete magnets in an alloy using a laser beam -- a surprising effect. The reversibility of the process opens up new possibilities in the fields of material processing, optical technology, and data storage.
  
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• VTT has 3-D printed a smart metal part: A step towards artificial intelligence

  18-04-2018 06:00
  (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, which is developing future manufacturing concepts, has succeeded in 3-D printing a smart shaft.
  
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• UTSA researcher and team launch diabetes support program

  18-04-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at San Antonio) Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are taking diabetes education to church. Through the Building a Healthy Temple (BHT) program, they're working with Hispanics who have type 2 diabetes to help them manage the disease and develop a healthier lifestyle.
  
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• UTA expands efforts to develop water recycling technologies

  18-04-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at Arlington) The Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation at the University of Texas at Arlington has expanded its partnership with oil field equipment supplier Challenger Water Solutions to develop water recycling technologies that will transform waste from unconventional oil and gas development into reusable water.
  
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